Investments changing direction after Trump's tweet

After Trump's tax threat to GM, Ford has changed future investment plan to USA. They will invest $700 million to Michigan instead of Mexico

11 January 2017 Wednesday 13:58

Ford has abandoned plans to spend $1.6 billion building a new factory in Mexico, the company said Tuesday, announcing that it will invest $700 million to expand a manufacturing facility in Michigan.

The company had initially planned to build a factory to produce the Ford Focus in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Instead, the Focus, which is currently made in Wayne, Michigan, will be built at one of Ford’s current Mexican factories.

“This will make way for two new iconic products at Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, where Focus is manufactured today – safeguarding approximately 3,500 U.S. jobs,” Ford said in a statement.”

The expansion of the Michigan facility will focus on producing self-driving and electric cars, Ford said. The company said it will roll out 13 new electric car models in the coming five years, including hybrid electric versions of its F-150 and Mustang models.

Like many US manufacturing giants, Ford has been criticized by Donald Trump for sending manufacturing work overseas. Almost immediately after Trump’s surprise election win, Ford announced that it would not go through with a plan to shift the production of some Lincoln SUVs to Mexico from Kentucky.

Hours before Ford’s announcement on Tuesday, Trump criticized General Motors for building cars for the US market in Mexico, and warned they could face import taxes in the future.

TOYOTA will invest $10 Billion in five years

Toyota will invest $10 billion in the United States over the next five years, the company said Monday at the annual Detroit auto show. The announcement comes just days after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized the Japanese manufacturer for a previously-announced relocation of Toyota Corolla production to Mexico. Toyota will devote a majority of the new investment to improving manufacturing plants, spokeswoman Amanda Sawyer Roark said in an email to AFP. "This investment also includes our new headquarters in Plano and research into autonomous vehicles and robotics," she said.The company declined to say whether the investments would lead to the creation of new jobs, a key mantra of the incoming U.S. president, who has repeatedly targeted automakers with his tweets. Toyota, the world's largest automaker, employs 40,000 people in the United States, of which 5,000 were hired in the last five years.